The () is a
breed
A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...
of domestic
chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...
from the
Nord – Pas de Calais region of north-eastern France. It is a variety of the
Langshan breed imported to England from China in 1872, and exported from there to Europe soon after.
[ Some were raised in the ]Pas-de-Calais
Pas-de-Calais (, " strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments ...
département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...
, and others in the neighbouring Nord
Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to:
Acronyms
* National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization
* New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US
Film and televisi ...
département, particularly in the areas of Estaires
Estaires (; vls, Stegers) is a commune in the Nord department of the Hauts-de-France region in northern France.
The town gives its name to a type of chicken bred in the area: the Estaires chicken.
Geography
Estaires is located in French Fland ...
, La Gorgue
La Gorgue is a town in northern France. It is a commune in the Nord department. The population of La Gorgue in 2019 was 5,639.[Laventie
Laventie (; vls, Wentie) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.
Geography
A small farming and light industrial town, situated some northeast of Béthune and west of Lille, at the junction of the D ...]
and Merville, from which birds were supplied to Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...
.
A breeders' club was formed in 1999, and in 2004 the breed came under the protection of the , the genetic resource centre of the Nord – Pas de Calais region.
Characteristics
The Estaires breed is closely similar to the Croad Langshan: the comb is small and regularly serrated, the legs are dark slate-blue or almost black and are slightly feathered. The plumage is black with beetle-green lights;[ there are also gold- and silver-necked colour variants.][
]
References
{{Chicken breeds of France
Chicken breeds
Chicken breeds originating in France